WASHINGTON, D.C.—According to a Live Science report, a new study of the mummified remains of a teenager recovered in Egypt in 1908 has revealed that she died while giving birth to twins. The girl is thought to have stood about five feet tall and weighed between 100 and 120 pounds at the time of her death. The remains of one fetus, bandaged and placed with the placenta between the girl’s legs, was discovered during an initial examination in 1908. The second fetus was first spotted in the mummy’s chest cavity in 2019, when archaeologist Francine Margolis took a CT scan of the remains. She and David Hunt of George Washington University have now X-rayed the mummy for another look. “When we saw the second fetus we knew we had a unique find and a first for ancient Egyptian archaeology,” she said. The researchers concluded that the teen died in labor, when the head of the first fetus became trapped in the birth canal. The remains of the second fetus are thought to have shifted into the chest cavity during the mummification process. The mummy’s head is missing, although photographs taken of it in 1908 are available. “If we found her head and her teeth are present, destructive testing on teeth and hair could provide information on her diet and metabolic stress she was experiencing during her life,” Margolis said. Read the original scholarly article about this research in International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. To read about noninvasive CT scanning of Egyptian mummies, go to "Inside a Pharaoh's Coffin," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2022.
